Letter from the President

Once again, we were very lucky that this past winter was easy on East Beach. Quite simply, the beach is in very good shape.

I’m pleased to say that our crew chief, Steven Iacoi, is back for another season. He has compiled the crew and they have been very busy so far. Thanks to the generosity of the abutters, the crew just spread 5 tons of crushed stone at the bottom third of the Bluff Ave. right of way (ROW), making passage a bit easier and combatting erosion in that area. You might also notice that we acquired a used Kawasaki mule (ATV) which will afford the crew easier and greater access on the beach and hopefully cut back on our fuel costs.

Regarding the plovers, for those of you interested in their progress, I receive regular reports from US Fish & Wildlife and would be happy to share those with you as they are received.

As some of you know, in the past 10 months there has been an inordinate (I believe) amount of discussion uptown about access to the waterfront in Westerly including, particularly, the ROWs to East Beach in Watch Hill. I attended the two public meetings and want to thank those of you from Watch Hill who also attended and spoke up. Anyone who knows anything about the ROWs to East Beach knows that they are well marked and maintained, easily traversed and very well used. The EBA is strongly against any other organization – public or private – being involved with our ROWs; hopefully the town and the small handful of vocal residents will soon redirect their attention to ROWs elsewhere in Westerly that might be in greater need of attention. If you want to know more about the issues and how you might help, please contact me directly.

This summer we welcome four new directors: Scott Brown, Beaumont Lett, Sergei Gagarin and Read McKendree. At our upcoming beach reception on Friday July 22 (see enclosed invite) we will welcome them and acknowledge with appreciation our outgoing board member, Lee Westerfield, who was my esteemed right-hand man for four years.

As always, we rely upon your generous support to cover our operating expenses. Please consider a tax-deductible donation - an envelope is enclosed for your convenience - or you can donate via our website. Thank you in advance for your continued generosity to the EBA.